Large energy speculators lowered their bullish net positions in the WTI Crude Oil futures markets this week for just the second time in the past eleven weeks, according to the latest Commitment of Traders (COT) data released by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) on Friday.

The non-commercial futures contracts of WTI Crude Oil futures, traded by large speculators and hedge funds, totaled a net position of 524,103 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday April 30th. This was a weekly lowering of -23,256 net contracts from the previous week which had a total of 547,359 net contracts.

The week’s net position was the result of the gross bullish position (longs) tumbling by -6,372 contracts to a weekly total of 638,298 contracts combined with the gross bearish position (shorts) which gained by 16,884 contracts for the week to a total of 114,195 contracts.

The speculative net position has been in a very strong bullish run as bets had increased for nine out of the previous ten weeks (a gain of +259,145 contracts) before this weeks decline. The overall net position has now been above the +500,000 net contract level for four straight weeks after having not ascended that threshold since October.

WTI Crude Oil Commercial Positions:

The commercial traders position, hedgers or traders engaged in buying and selling for business purposes, totaled a net position of -549,163 contracts on the week. This was a weekly advance of 21,306 contracts from the total net of -570,469 contracts reported the previous week.

WTI Crude Oil Futures:

Over the same weekly reporting time-frame, from Tuesday to Tuesday, the WTI Crude Oil Futures (Front Month) closed at approximately $63.91 which was a shortfall of $-2.39 from the previous close of $66.30, according to unofficial market data.

*COT Report: The COT data, released weekly to the public each Friday, is updated through the most recent Tuesday (data is 3 days old) and shows a quick view of how large speculators or non-commercials (for-profit traders) as well as the commercial traders (hedgers & traders for business purposes) were positioned in the futures markets.

The CFTC categorizes trader positions according to commercial hedgers (traders who use futures contracts for hedging as part of the business), non-commercials (large traders who speculate to realize trading profits) and nonreportable traders (usually small traders/speculators).